After three hours of testimony in a court-ordered hearing that began around 9:45 p.m. Monday, the Easton Zoning Hearing Board early yesterday morning approved variances allowing a Phillipsburg man to open a wholesale-retai l tire outlet in the first block of N. 10th Street.

The board voted 4-1 to approve the variances, with member David Linton dissenting. About 35 people packed the zoners' meeting room, with opponents outnumbering proponents.

The proposal by Michael Hancewicz, of Lewis Street, has been met by stiff opposition from residents of N. 10th Street who maintain the store will increase an already bad parking problem as well as increasetraffic and noise levels. The building at 25 N. 10th St. was occupied from 1954 to 1983 by by R.S. Hahn and Sons, a heating and air conditioning contractor and sheet metal fabricator. Hahn has moved its operations to Palmer Township.

Hancewicz had received variance approvals from the board in March by a 3-2 vote with Matthew Sportelli and Linton voting against the measure, but a group of about 10 property owners on N. 10th Street appealed the decision to Northampton County Court. Judge Franklin S. VanAntwerpen sent the matter back to the board because of questions about the swearing in of some witnesses and also to allow opponents a better chance to place their objections on the record and be represented by counsel.

According to attorney Thomas Walters, representing some of the property owners near the proposed tire store, and attorney Charles Spaziani, representing Hancewicz, the two sides will be back before the court in the near future to decide if the appeal was valid and if the residents who brought the appeal have to post a cash bond for any business Hancewicz may have lost. VanAntwerpen had said he would not rule on an appeal until a transcript from a second hearing was completed.

Sportelli said he changed his vote because of new testimony by Hancewicz that no other activities like car repair, wheel alignment or brake work would be done at the tire store. Sportelli said those activities were outlined at the first hearing. Sportelli also said the hours of operation had changed from the first hearing. Hancewicz testified the store would operate primarily by appointment and be open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

Sportelli noted he was not convinced that other uses for the building suggested by opponents - like a community garage or day care center

Linton said that while the scope of operations at the tire business changed since the first hearing, he was not convinced that voting in favor of something all 19 property owners in the block were opposed to was acting in the public interest.

Hancewicz, who also owns Towne Tire on Memorial Parkway in Phillipsburg, said he has been in the tire business for 29 years and noted he operated out of his home for 10 years without complaints from neighbors. He said all work will be done inside the garage and added no cars will be parked on the street, including those of three employees. About 65 percent of his business would be retail, he said.

Michael Hahn of R.S. Hahn testified that on a scale of 1 to 10, the noise from his business while on 10th street was 8 or 9. Hancewicz said on the same scale, his tire store would be about 1. Hahn said a day care center had been interested in the 10th Street property, but financing fell through. He noted other potential buyers, such as a motorcycle repair shop, were turned down.

Robert Kilbanks, of 47 N. 10th St., presented the board with a petition signed by 19 property owners on both sides of N. 10th Street near the proposed tire outlet. "I have a concern about the level of business that could occur," Kilbanks said. "The Saturday hours will be a completely new activity . . . The peace of a Saturday will be broken by cars going in and out of there."

Kilbanks said he wanted the building use to be consistent with zoning laws.

"In my opinion, I do not see how that particular business can help my property value or any other property value on N. 10th Street," said John Luczyszyn, of 102 N. 10th St.

John Gittins, part owner of the 10th Street building with Hancewicz and his wife, told the crowd, "If you people would just meet us halfway, you'd see we run a pretty smart operation and would bring the value of your properties up."

In other matters Monday night, the board approved variances for:

- Merchants Bank to erect a 160-square-foot corner-mounted sign on the former Easton National Bank and Trust Co. building on Centre Square. Athough the square footage of the proposed sign is larger than ENBT's former 111- square foot sign, Easton attorney Robert Brown said a person will only be able to view 36 square feet of the new sign at any one time, less than the ENBT sign.

- Rose Perelli of 218 S. 10th St., to convert her single-family home into two units.

- Wilbur Krech, to construct a 14-by-18-foot addition to his home at 1301 Lehigh St.

- Ronald Rosenberg, to build a 10-by-19-foot parking pad behind his home at 608 Wilkes-Barre St.

- David Caravetta, to build an 8-by-12-foot addition to his home at 308 W. Nesquehoning St.

- Marilyn Coon, to put in a 21-foot above-ground swimming pool in the rear of her home at 418 Williams St.

- William McAuliffe, to build a 23-by-26-foot garage behind his home at 1043 Butler St.

In the only denial of the night, Richard Rammuni, of 1123 Washington St., failed to get permission to convert his single-family home into a two-family dwelling. The board said it felt Ramunni had not advertised the property long enough as a single-family unit. Ramunni said the variance for a two-family unit was a contingency for the sale of the property to a prospective buyer.